Mets' Ronny Mauricio fractures left thumb; Bo Bichette might move back to shortstop

The New York Mets lost another shortstop in Saturday ‘s 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels when Ronny Mauricio fractured his thumb while sliding into first base.

Mauricio hit a grounder to first base in the seventh inning. Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel fielded the ball and intended to flip the ball to pitcher Reid Detmers. But Detmers was late running to cover the play, forcing Schanuel to dive into first base to make the tag.

Seeing that he had a chance to beat Schanuel, Mauricio also dove toward the bag and his left thumb broke when colliding with the base.

"It’s tough, obviously,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, via MLB.com. “You lose your everyday shortstop and the guy that comes up that is getting the everyday opportunity here now is hurt. Somebody else is going to have an opportunity.”

As Mendoza alluded to, the Mets had already lost starting shortstop Francisco Lindor to a strained left calf. He is expected to stay on the injured list until late May or early June. Though the Mets didn’t put a timetable on Mauricio’s recovery, a fractured thumb typically takes approximately six weeks to heal.

The question now becomes who gets the opportunity at shortstop that Mendoza mentioned. However, the Mets may already have a solution on their current roster.

Bo Bichette took over for Mauricio for the final four innings of Saturday’s game and has played shortstop through most of his eight-year MLB career. To be exact, he’s played 718 games at the position, including 132 last season for the Toronto Blue Jays.

With Lindor already established at shortstop and advanced metrics showing that Bichette wasn’t effective defensively at that position, the Mets decided he would play third base when signing him as a free agent to a three-year, $126 million contract.

Bichette has played well at third base, though the position change might have affected his hitting. After batting 1-for-5 on Saturday, Bichette has a slash average of .237/.276/.319 with two home runs and 15 RBI in 145 plate appearances.

The Mets have several candidates to call up from Triple-A Syracuse, including Jackson Cluff, Christian Arroyo and Vidal Bruján.

Last season, Bichette was credited with -12 Defensive Runs Saved and -12 Outs Above Average at shortstop, so the infield defense could suffer by moving him over. But if that happens. Brett Baty would likely take his former position at third base, where he’s played 247 games.